Chapter 50: Miss Ye will be extra clingy these two days. Miss Ye...
The midday light is at its brightest.
Under the sunlight, the banks of the Zishui River are covered with green embroidery, the river surface is sparkling with white light, and the stars are broken like scales.
After eating, Ye Jindian and Zhang Min squatted on the stone steps, scooped water to wash their hands, dried them, and then walked towards the clinic.
Wei Chulan was not busy today. She was slowly grinding medicinal herbs in the main hall. Next to her, on the beauty couch by the window, lay Xie Zhaoming, a frail beauty with flowing black hair.
Seeing someone enter, he hurriedly sat up, grabbed the gold-lacquered red satin fan next to him, covered half of his face, and coughed twice: "Oh my, a guest has arrived. How rude."
Zhang Min: “…”
It was as if they had entered without permission without the medicine boy ringing the bell.
He raised his hand to cover Ye Jindian's eyes behind him, and Wei Chulan also turned around and pulled on someone's loose outer robe, tightening the collar that was already covered tightly.
The corners of Xie Zhaoming's half-exposed mouth curved up.
Zhang Min: “…”
A fox is a fox, with more tricks than a bamboo sieve.
Xie Zhaoming went into the inner room to tidy up his appearance. Wei Chulan asked Ye Jindian to sit down and took her pulse first. "Miss Ye, everything is fine. There's nothing serious. I'll give you one more acupuncture. But remember, don't get any serious stimulation recently."
Zhang Min nodded and took out a booklet and ink pen: "Anything else?"
Wei Chulan took out the needle and warmed it by the fire. "Also, due to the residual effects of the medicine, Miss Ye will be extra clingy these past two days."
Ye Jindian was at a loss.
What does it mean to be extra clingy? Why doesn't she feel this symptom?
Zhang Min wrote it down seriously, put down his pen, and immediately asked, "Anything else?"
After Wei Chulan finished warming the needles, she looked up and replied, "That's all. I just need Mr. Zhang to be quiet and not disturb me while I'm doing the acupuncture."
Zhang Min fell silent and put away his pen and paper.
Ye Jindian felt a little embarrassed and pushed his hand away: "How about you go talk to Mr. Xie?"
The acupuncture took a while.
Zhang Min was reluctant to leave and left reluctantly, as if they were going to be separated for many years, looking back every few steps.
Ye Jindian couldn't tell for a moment who of the two of them was affected by the medicine.
Zhang Min entered the inner room.
Xie Zhaoming was dressed neatly and elegantly, with his hair tied up in a crown, meticulously done.
He looked at him with a gentle smile on his face.
Zhang Min unceremoniously sat down next to him and asked, "How's Chunxiaolou handling things? Any news on that Du Junze?"
"Spreading rumors is something I've done for the Right Prime Minister for many years, so I'm already familiar with it. Why bother asking?" Xie Zhaoming said with a teasing air, his tone full of joking, yet his words were forced to be polite. "As for the Left Prime Minister... recruiting troops is not a one-day job, and we have to do it in a way that doesn't arouse suspicion. We need to give him ample time."
Zhang Min snatched the unfinished teacup from his hand, took a sip, and said with some disdain: "Why did you add tangerine peel?"
"New way to drink it, isn't it sweet?" Xie Zhaoming took out a small jar, "How about adding some licorice?"
Zhang Min moved the cup away in disgust.
Xie Zhaoming chuckled, brought himself a new cup, and tossed the licorice in. "Chunxiao Tower is involved with a vast and complex network of forces. Besides the aristocracy, there are also people from the previous dynasty. Thanks to the immeasurable blessings of the millennia-old ritual of 'Two Kings and Three Kes', the bloodline of the previous dynasty cannot be completely annihilated. Otherwise, Your Majesty will become a 'tyrant' and the dynasty will be short-lived."
Those in power, if they are not mentally ill, will not violate this taboo casually.
"Heh." Zhang Min sneered, propping up his swollen head with two fingers. "If the remnants of the previous dynasty are already struggling like dying fish in a dried-up pond, they can naturally be left with titles. But if they vainly try to add water to a dry pond..."
No wonder he is so cruel.
Seeing him shrink his eyes and eyelids, Xie Zhaoming brought out a bronze mirror and placed it in front of him. "Tsk tsk, Zhang Zimei. Look at yourself. Aren't you creepy?"
Zhang Min was interrupted midway through his harsh words. His eyes suddenly grew dull, and he turned to look at him expressionlessly: "...What's wrong with you?"
Xie Zhaoming put away the bronze mirror: "Nothing, just to remind you of your current appearance."
Zhang Min: “…”
"Let's get back to business." Xie Zhaoming lifted the lid of the cup and poured hot water into it. "Now that the world is at peace, many things that could be done in troubled times must now be eliminated one by one. You've messed up Chunxiao Tower this time, and you've gotten yourself into trouble."
They are just the bloodline of the previous dynasty. According to the royal family's practice of spreading seeds, it is not easy to find a few descendants with the bloodline of the previous dynasty.
They whispered about how, after the rumor that "the Right Prime Minister was seriously injured by gangsters in Chunxiao Tower" spread, they would take the opportunity to destroy Chunxiao Tower, a lawless place, step by step.
*
Outer compartment.
Ye Jindian felt a little drowsy from the needle prick, so she simply closed her eyes and took a nap.
For a moment or two, she had a brief dream. It was filled with tall, straight trees, steep and jagged like rocks, grayish-yellow fog swirling into scarlet sand clouds, and vast, rolling sand dunes swirling in the wind. Faintly, the "ding-ling-ding-ling" sound of camel bells echoed in her ears.
She woke up in a daze and saw a copper bell hanging above her head. Then she suddenly realized that it was all a dream.
"Someone is coming." Wei Chulan instructed the medicine boy, "Show the guest a seat first. I'll be right there."
After the medicine boy left, she washed her hands in the basin, dried them, and turned to look at Ye Jindian, "Miss Ye, I'm going to remove the needle for you."
Ye Jindian said "hmm".
After removing the needle, Zhang Min also came out from the inner room and asked her softly if she felt uncomfortable anywhere.
Ye Jindian shook her head: "I'm fine, my husband, don't be nervous."
But Zhang Min still carefully massaged both sides of her head and asked her if she felt any pain.
Xie Zhaoming brought out a bronze mirror, placed it on the table, and called out to Zhang Min, "Brother Bai Shi, your collar is crooked. Can you straighten it in the mirror?"
Zhang Min turned around and saw himself in the mirror, looking gentle and handsome, with tenderness in his brows.
He slowly raised his eyes and looked at Xie Zhaoming, who had a mischievous look on his face.
“…”
Some weak scholars are so malicious that they even mock others in a roundabout way.
*
Leave the clinic.
Ye Jindian went straight to the Arsenal, put down the cloth bag and started hammering the cast components, leaving Luo Dong no chance to interrupt if he wanted to say a word.
When it was almost evening and all twelve components were completed, she stopped and took a breath.
Luo Dong wiped his nose: "Um...girl, are you okay?"
Ye Jindian drank the water in the bowl, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and said with a smile, "Senior, just call me by my courtesy name. My name is Ziyao. According to Shuowen Jiezi, it means 'Yao, the beautiful stone'. I'm fine. Thank you for your concern."
Seeing her calm and straightforward attitude, as if she didn't hold a grudge against the past, Luo Dong immediately felt relieved: "You don't have to be so polite, just call me Uncle Luo."
Ye Jindian readily changed her words and said, "Uncle Luo."
After letting go of his reservations, Luo Dong finally discussed the matter of forging weapons and ironware with the young man. He discovered that the young man was not only proficient in the subject but also had his own unique insights.
He almost didn't want to let the person go, and talked to him all day long.
Unfortunately, the Supervisor came personally to chase them away: "I made you work day and night to forge weapon components. It was really hard."
Ye Jindian didn't quite understand where this "day and night" came from.
"Therefore, I have requested from the higher-ups to give you three days off so that you can have a good rest." The supervisor said this while looking at them with a smile.
Luo Dong originally wanted to say that there was really no need, as he was not very tired.
But when he thought of the suffering Ye Jindian had endured, he shut his mouth.
He decided to come quietly tomorrow and figure out how to add the charcoal powder.
The warden turned to Ye Jindian, his eyes filled with relief: "Especially you, you have to rest well before you come back to work, understand?"
Ye Jindian: "...I understand."
The supervisor praised them a few more times, then left happily with his hands behind his back, and his excitement could be seen from the way his heels were raised.
Ye Jindian wondered if this crossbow had some great use, so great that it could help the Supervisor get promoted and make a fortune, which would make him so happy.
Without thinking too much, she grabbed the cloth bag and hung it over her shoulder, then left the Arsenal and went home.
On the way back, one always has to pass by the prime minister's residence here.
In the past, when passing by the Prime Minister's Mansion, Ye Jindian always walked quickly and close to the wall, fearing that she would get into trouble. Now, when she saw this mansion again, her expression was a little complicated.
After watching quietly for a moment, she grasped the rope of the cloth bag tightly, walked around it, and walked along the Zishui River towards the old house.
As dusk approached and twilight fell, people on the willow bank were talking.
"Hey, did you hear?"
"Isn't it just that the Right Prime Minister was stabbed and seriously injured in Chunxiao Tower? The news spread all over this morning. Who wouldn't know about it?"
"I heard that His Majesty was furious, and I vowed to seek justice for the Right Prime Minister."
"What? Didn't they say that the Right Prime Minister would participate in the hunt tomorrow and that he wasn't injured?"
"Huh? Didn't the Right Prime Minister say he wanted to capture eighteen beautiful young ladies from the people as concubines?"
“…”
…
For a while, news that was difficult to distinguish between true and false came flooding to Ye Jindian.
However, since ancient times, only romantic affairs have always flourished. As everyone talked, they almost always focused on the story of the Right Prime Minister capturing eighteen beautiful young ladies. Some were anxious because they had daughters at home, while others were angry that he dared to act so arrogantly.
Ye Jindian felt more and more uncomfortable.
He... doesn't look like he's seriously injured.
Could it be that he was too patient and didn't reveal anything, or was there something else going on?
She pondered and walked towards home.
Pushing open the gate, Zhang Min sat in the corridor and wrote.
The evening mist was thick and heavy, and the lush flowers and trees in the courtyard became dark and deep green, which further highlighted his plain clothes and the quiet beauty of his bare feet.
Ye Jindian's heart suddenly calmed down.
Zhang Min heard the noise, raised his eyes and looked over, a smile on his face: "Madam, you're back."
He wrote faster and completed the last sentence of the order to capture the dancer.
He kept asking her, "How was your day? Are you happy? Did anything interesting happen?"
Ye Jindian pondered the series of rumors she had heard from others and said casually, "I heard that the Right Prime Minister wants to capture eighteen beautiful young girls from the people as concubines."
"Bang——"
Her kind-hearted husband was so angry that he smashed his beloved inkstone.
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